Still having fun!

Sunrise

South Mountain, 60 miles East in Idaho

I am not really complaining, just blown away by what has turned out to be the most intense winter for this area in at least 30 years. Having said that, I must tell you that what we have gotten is nothing compared to what is happening in other parts of the North West. Granted it has been a little inconvenient, but no where near as serious as it has been all around us. Those poor guys are suffering collapsed roofs, warehouses, and now of course flooding due to the naturally rapid melting.

The wildlife is suffering the most. The Antelope, Deer and Elk, not to mention the Game birds are catching hell. The Elk have come out of the high country for the first time that I have witnessed. Of course I have only been here 11 years. A friend told me during a phone call that the Elk had come into the towns at the foot of the Cascades, where I used to work. Of course along with them came the Cougars. One of the little towns that I spent many nights while working for the RR had killed 6 Cougars so far. Of course the Dogs and Cats made a much easier food source than Elk.

What affected us the most was the ice. The ground does not willingly accept water here, so as it melted, it stayed on top of the ground, and then naturally it froze into an uneven sheet of ice. "Normally" this time of the year is fairly warm, while the last of Dec and most of Jan are bitterly cold, ( for us anyway) with the temps in the minus range. The temps have risen to 46 the last few days and the ice was finally receding. That of course means that the creek fills up. Not a problem for us, but the melting on the hill between us and the Hwy drains almost all of the water right onto the flat where the house is located.

This time I was ready. I dug a trench along the uphill side of the house and when the water came up, I set up the sump pump, and moved the water on down the hill to the Creek. Year before last I took a road grader from next door and cut drainage ditches across the hillside to divert the water draining off the hill side, and then cut a trench in the "ranch" yard parking spot to divert the remaining flow around the house.

Things were looking up, and then this morning when I got up there was a brand new very wet 4 inches of new snow on the ground again. Now at noon the Sun has come out.